The inspectors general serve as the canary in the coal mine, warning federal leaders of agency risks and vulnerabilities. They also have a unique, long-term perspective on their organizations since they typically remain in place through changes in leadership. In this report, “Walking the Line: Inspectors General Balancing Independence and Impact,” the Partnership for Public Service and Grant Thornton Public Sector set out to identify ways incoming agency leaders and Congress can form constructive relationships with the IG community.
In the “Making Government Work” section of the Policy Playbook for America’s Next President, the Partnership and No Labels present a vision for a more efficient, effective and responsive government. The ideas include: improve the presidential transition process; reform how government hires and manages its people; and transform government from a culture of compliance to one of customer service.
Over the last year, the Partnership for Public Service and the IBM Center for The Business of Government have held a series of roundtable discussions with key government leaders and stakeholders to develop a Management Roadmap for the next administration. This roadmap will share lessons learned, identify promising initiatives and offer ideas on successful implementation.
Our first roundtable and report focused on executive talent. Our second roundtable discussion was centered on how to create an ecosystem for cross-agency collaboration in the new administration. In the new report, “Building an Enterprise Government,” Jane E. Fountain outlines a framework that the next president and agency executives can use to formulate strategic priorities, modernize management processes and build capacity to achieve cross-agency goals.
In the coming months, we will release additional reports on related management topics. We invite you to learn more about the Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition and the Management Roadmap.
This bibliography, compiled by the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson and Allen & Overy, compiles much of the scholarly literature analyzing various aspects of presidential transitions.
The challenges facing our country are more complex and interconnected than ever, and addressing those challenges requires cooperation and compromise both within and between the branches of our government.
In the nonpartisan research report—“Government Disservice: Overcoming Washington Dysfunction to Improve Congressional Stewardship of the Executive Branch”—the Partnership for Public Service, with support from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, examines how congressional polarization diminishes the effectiveness of federal agency programs and operations and looks at ways in which Congress can be a better steward of the executive branch.
Federal agencies are extremely large and complex organizations with critical missions that range from safeguarding our borders to protecting us from disease. Managing these organizations effectively and ensuring that they achieve their goals is no easy task, and it is the responsibility of the chief operating officer (COO).
What role do COOs play in agencies? What are their top priorities and challenges? What is the state of management in federal agencies? Those are the questions the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton set out to understand in the inaugural report, “Bridging Mission and Management: A Survey of Government Chief Operating Officers.”
In the report, “Building the Enterprise: A New Civil Service Framework,” the Partnership for Public Service calls for major reforms to the federal government’s decades-old civil service system and lays out a plan to modernize areas that include the outdated pay and hiring policies.
“Our nation’s civil service system is a relic of a bygone era,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “Our nation’s leadership must make it a priority to create a civil service system that our public servants deserve and that will produce the results our country needs.”
Produced in collaboration with Booz Allen Hamilton, the comprehensive report calls the federal personnel system, the foundation for effective government, obsolete and in crisis, and an obstacle rather than an aid in attracting, hiring, retaining and developing top talent.
“Good government starts with good people, and our nation is fortunate to count some of the brightest, most dedicated professionals among its ranks. But they too often succeed in spite of the current system, not because of it,” Stier said.
The report calls for overhauling the entire civil service system, including pay, performance management, hiring, job classification, accountability and workplace justice, and the Senior Executive Service, the nation’s career leadership corps.
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On March 31, 2014, Partnership President and CEO Max Stier testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about the management challenges facing our federal government.
In his testimony, Stier applauded the work that OMB is doing to improve government management and offered several ways in which Congress could augment these efforts. Specifically, Stier urged Congress to reduce the number of vacancies in critical management positions, focus on oversight of policy and programs before there is a problem, hold agency leaders accountable for managing people well and reform the civil service system. Stier also talked about the importance of treating government as a single enterprise and developing and managing career executives who serve as enterprise-wide assets.
On December 12, 2013, Partnership President and CEO Max Stier testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security on employee morale at the Department of Homeland Security.
Talking points for the Romney Transition leadership to communicate to employees and volunteers.